


Sinking Ships

by polgara



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-06
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-07 19:22:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1123469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polgara/pseuds/polgara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of loosely connected Buffy/Harry fics</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Loose Lips

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: #350 Sarcasm - from LJ comm Taming the Muse
> 
> Disclaimer: I own none of these characters, settings, or fandoms. They are the property of their respective creators and companies. 
> 
> Summary: Wizards, in general, make lousy patients.

Pain erupted over my body sending fire coursing through my nerve endings. I most certainly did not let out a whine of pain, it was more of a manly grunt. Right, no more adjusting my leg to find a more comfortable position because that won‘t end well. 

What never ceased to amaze me was just how easy and fast it was to get injured compared to how long and hard it was to recover from that self-same injury. All in all, it wasn’t fair. If those damn vampires were still around, I’d take this frustration out on them. It would only serve them right since it was their fault I was laying here pitifully on my sofa. 

“Hey, what did I tell you about moving without help?” My avenging angel asked as she appeared in my line of sight carrying a steaming mug of something. 

“That it was manly,” I said with a pout. 

A snort escaped her adorable lips as she rolled her eyes. She knelt next to me and set the mug on the floor. With strong and gentle hands she helped me get into a roughly sitting position with surprisingly little pain. “Here, drink this,” she said, placing the mug in my shaking hands. 

“But Buffy, it’s not Coke. I said I wanted Coke.” I all but whined back at her. I have never made the best patient and I was horrified by my own behavior in front of the woman I was strongly attracted to but seemed unable to stop myself. 

“Molly, is he always like this?” The volume level of her voice rose slightly in order to reach my apprentice who was still working in the kitchen. 

“Only on days that end in ‘y’!” 

“You are a cruel young lady,” I shot back, not turning to look at her in fear of another wave of pain. 

“Thank you, boss!” 

“I get no respect around here,” I grumbled. 

“Aw, the poor, big bad wizard doesn’t like to be picked on,” Buffy said, pulling a face. “Would this make you feel better? What do you need to make all of your ouchies go away?” She asked her tone dangerously sweet as she patronized me. 

I scowled at her the best I could with my face swollen from the spectacular bruising I had received from tousling with the vampires earlier in the evening. Ordinarily I loved the snark and sass coming from this beautiful woman, but today was not a good day. 

“Suck it up, wizard boy,” she said her tone returning to normal. Her hand reached out and nudged the mug toward my mouth. “This is a special concoction that Willow designed; it will help with the healing.” 

Cautiously I brought it up to my face and gave it an experimental sniff. It was the bitter smell I had been expecting but there was a hint of something that I wasn‘t familiar with. “It smells funny.” 

“You are such a baby. Men, I swear!” She said, with what I hoped was fond exasperation. “Trust me and drink it.” 

I let out a petulant huff of air before taking a sip. The tea had a light flavor to it with a hint of brightness to it that I hadn’t been expecting. My eyebrows rose on their own as I said, “This is good.” 

“Drink it all,” she commanded before standing and walking out of my direct line of sight. 

I graciously decided to follow her advice and worked on slowly consuming the contents of the mug. Behind me I could hear Buffy and Molly talking in hushed, worried tones but I was too tired to try and suss out the individual words. The battle with the vampires earlier in the evening had been brutal and I’m not sure I would have made it out alive if Buffy hadn’t been there carrying out her role as a Chosen One. Molly had been the one to suggest bringing her in on this case and I was ever thankful she had. 

Gradually as I sipped the tea my aching muscle relaxed and the pounding in my head lessened from sledgehammers to just ping hammers, painful but no longer all encompassing. I wasn’t sure how long I had been staring bemusedly at the fire burning cheerfully in my fireplace when Buffy removed the empty mug from my lax fingers. 

“I think you drugged me,” I accused. 

“Just so you could get some sleep,” she assured me, not denying it. “And there really are some healing herbs in there as well. If it makes you feel better, Willow did the same to me one time.” 

It took me longer than usual to decide if it did or not. “It does,” I said sagely, with an exaggerated head nod. 

Her smile was soft as she looked at me and I wish I knew what to do to receive that look from her every day. A rosy flush spread across her cheeks and I frowned at its sudden appearance. 

“You get loose lips like this when you’ve been drinking?” She asked, her green eyes sparkling with mirth. 

“I said something out loud that I didn’t mean to, didn’t I?” 

“Possibly,” she said with a silvery laugh and I felt my own lips form a smile in response. “Come on, off to bed. We’ll talk about these loose lips tomorrow after you’ve had a good night’s sleep.”


	2. Dry Spells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: #351 Parched - from LJ Comm Taming the Muse

I groaned pitifully as I slowly came awake. Surprisingly I didn’t feel quite as bad as I thought I should considering the beating I had taken the night before. My throat was as dry as the desert and I wished that I had the foresight to set a glass of water on the stand next to my bed. However, Buffy had drugged me in effort to help me sleep and I had been too groggy to think clearly enough to remember. 

If I remembered correctly, Buffy had said there were some sort of healing herbs in the tea she had given me, maybe that’s why I wasn’t as stiff and sore as I had been the night before. I remained on my back as I reached up to touch the right side of my face. Last night it had been swollen and hurt to touch, now it was just tender and the swelling had gone down. That tea must have been some pretty good stuff and I wondered if I could talk Buffy into getting me a supply of my own. It would be handy for some of my rougher cases. 

For several long minutes I contemplated actually getting out of bed and doing something with the day, but I honestly didn’t want to do anything. Staying in bed and letting the world turn on its own for twenty-four hours sounded like the best idea I’d had in years. My body, on the other hand, had other ideas as my full bladder made itself known. I sighed and went into my tiny bathroom to take care of business. 

When I exited, Buffy was standing in the doorway with a glass of water. 

“You are a wonderful woman,” I said, reaching out for the heavenly nectar. I took a large gulp and my throat was instantly grateful. 

“It’s a side effect of the tea. The pain reliever and boost in healing is great, but it dehydrates you a little,” Buffy explained with a smile. “Not a bad trade off in my book.”

I nodded my head. “It’s definitely impressive. Think I could get a batch of my own?” 

She smiled at me and I felt my subconscious poke at me for some reason. “I’ll talk to Willow. Don’t be surprised if you receive a long lecture on its proper use and suggested dosages.” 

“I’m good at following instructions,” I assured her. 

One golden eyebrow arched as her lips twisted into a smirk. “Not from what I’ve heard. Karrin has told me all sorts of stories.” 

“All greatly exaggerated,” I said with a huff before downing nearly half the glass of water.

“I’m sure,” she said with a patronizing smile. “Now get back in bed, you still need rest to finish healing. The tea is still doing its job and it works better if you’re resting.” 

I grumbled good-naturedly but climbed back into bed. It wouldn’t do to let on that it had been my original plan for the day all along. “Are you going to keep providing me water?” I asked sweetly before drinking the last of the water. I really was thirsty, she hadn’t been exaggerating on that side effect.

“If you’re a good boy,” she promised with a sunny smile and I felt an invisible tug on my heart. She turned to go back out the door, only to turn back to face me. “I expect romance.” 

“What?” I asked, confused beyond belief. What did romance have to do with my glass of water?

“Once you’re better, I expect romance. The whole nine yards. That’s what it will take to keep seeing that smile on my face.” Then she turned and went into the front of my apartment. 

What the hell was she talking about? I furiously went over the events last night mentally and forced my way through the drugged haze of the tea. There was a vague memory of Buffy helping me to bed and it seemed to mostly focus on her smiling face. The blood drained from my own as I remembered babbling about wanting to receive that look every day. 

I haven’t had a lot of experience with women, and there were huge dry spells between each one. Asking out one that I’m attracted to is only slightly less scary than facing down a room filled with angry Denarians. But this time I had an added advantage, this one had shown her interest which made the prospect of asking her out only slightly less scary. 

Time to suck it up and put on your big boy pants, Harry. There’s a chance that the dry spell of your love life could very well be over. She wanted romance? I could do that, no problem.


End file.
